Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Director: Adam Wingard
Stars: Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall
Runtime: 113 minutes

Synopsis: The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another - the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong - with humanity caught in the balance.

Verdict: And now, for the greatest gladiator match in the history of the world. God vs. King. Lizard vs. Ape. Atomic Reptilian vs. Colossal Monkey! One of the most anticipated cinematic spectacles is finally upon us after countless postponements and to it, I only have one word to utter: Refund!

With cinemas being still closed where I live, I had to resort to the much smaller screen of my laptop to watch the showdown between the two titans which had been building up for years and the release of 2014’s “Godzilla”. Many will point out that the setting was not ideal to which I’ll agree considering the scale of the project, but I’ve never been one to care much for large CGI set pieces and tend to find more enjoyment in the complexity of the characters and the journey they go through. Something that, similarly to the Monsterverse’s previous installments, was non-existent due to the two-dimensional aspect of the human characters who dominated the film’s runtime. I kid you not, the film consists of about 10% of actual fighting between the titular characters while the rest is a snoozefest that combines dull dialogue, non-stop exposition, and generic back and forths that nearly put me to sleep.

Without spoiling anything, the movie introduces a new character in its final act whose only purpose was to serve as the resolution for the narrative (think Doomsday in Batman v Superman). And I don’t think I would’ve minded that introduction had the film not taken itself as seriously as it did and instead doubled down on the ridiculousness of its concept. “Godzilla vs. Kong” is a headline that wants to be dumb fun and grounded drama at the same time, and as a result ends up being neither in my books.

The movie has some impressive CGI work, I’ll give it that, but unfortunately doesn’t offer anything of worth beyond that. You get some cool moments that work well within the runtime of a three-minute-long trailer, however it wasn’t nearly enough to keep me entertained for the nearly two-hour-long runtime.

FINAL GRADE: 4/10